asp wrote:Rutiger asked, "ry if you've posted this before, but what are your best growing crops? What have you tried to grow that didn't work out?"

Actually I didn't post this for fear of being deluged with advice which I really don't need.
I grow almost completely native vegetables now.
I have had mixed results with foreign seeds mainly because the nitrogen content of the soil is too high and requires amendments. Secondly, the local insects seem to love them whereas natives survive by possessing a natural immunity. Another reason is that.my Cambodian wife does most of the cooking and thus has more need of local plants. Beans are the exception; I have had great success with many foreign varieties. In any case a soil ph testing kit is a must have.

Very interesting. Thanks. Have you tried hydro? I reckon you have a lot more control especially if you do it in a sealed tent or something. Not really traditional farming though, but the cash benefits may be outstanding on the right crops. Heavy 'import' taxes n all.

Duncan wrote:What's the best instant organic source for improving nitrogen content


Chicken shit,,, but much too strong to put directly on the plants as it will burn the roots. The plant shops sell small bags of dried ,,, looks like pigeon or bat droppings which I have used by putting on the top layer of soil and it slowly gets washed into the soil.

Brilliant Duncan thanks. Any thoughts on a good instant source for the PK that flowering needs?

asp wrote:Irrelevant and incorrect advice. More fodder for my compost.

Are you saying it's ill advice to put chicken shit on the top layer of my pots to add nitrogen to the soil?

Username Taken wrote:The locals stole all the nails and left the wood to rot on the ground.

Hehehe now that is poverty.

It's sort of a half-baked retirement plan to have an income producing hobby farm, or at least grow/raise enough for self-sufficiency. Build a small wooden house overlooking the small river that runs through the property.

Sounds good. If you can afford the water pipe and tenting you could be one of the first hydro farms. It will definitely keep you busy anyway. I tried it but the landlord effectively stole my land. A bit of a story attached to it, but including other factors, in the end I decided to just cut and run. Got the house built though. Lol.

Username Taken wrote:

asp wrote:Actually I didn't post this for fear of being deluged with advice which I really don't need.

I'm not really sure if that sentence is postiive or negative. Anyway, I'm not here to offer any advice, unless you specifically ask for some.
It would seem that there are other expats with hobby farms and whatnot, and I'm interested in what you and those others are doing, growing, etc. So, anything of interest that you or they post will be noted.
I have a couple of hectares that is lying dormant at the moment, but I'd like to try and get something happening out there in the near future. I had a fence built out there some years back, but it's all gone now. The locals stole all the nails and left the wood to rot on the ground.
It's sort of a half-baked retirement plan to have an income producing hobby farm, or at least grow/raise enough for self-sufficiency. Build a small wooden house overlooking the small river that runs through the property. Nothing but random thoughts at the moment though.

Duncan's homemade windmill is food for thought too, if it could pump from the river not from underground.

Although I probably built about 6 or 8 of these windmills, I would not recommend them. They do have high torque at low revs but when they go over 600 RPM they need to be highly balanced or they will just fly apart. Building a effective feathering or a braking system onto them is too complicated .

Duncan wrote:

juansweetpotato wrote:Talapia is delicious and vegetarian too! There are a lot of small hold farmers on here

Does anyone know where I can buy quality plant fertilizers (NPK) in PP? Imports from the west preferably unless you can recommend otherwise.

In a SNV plant shop they were trying to sell me what looked like a bag of stones imported from Vietnam. Not really sure what they were but must have been slow release, over about a million years as they were made of stone.

I have a book, written in Khmer, but produced in Vietnam by a Vietnam company that makes and sells all types of fertilizers. NPK plus everything else in various mixes like dolomite bla, bla, bla.. It's in my other house in PP so next week I will copy it and give you a copy if you want it. It's handy to have when you go into a plant shop , but most of the time they don't know anything and don't have what you want anyway.

Here is their web site.

http://binhdien.com/demo/index.php?m=about-binh-dien

Don't know if this 100 page book on fertilizers will be of any use to those with land, but here is a example of what it contains, all in Khmer so you can show the plant shop instead of wasting your breath. If you want a copy of the book send a pm so I know how many to print.

Duncan wrote:

Username Taken wrote:

asp wrote:Actually I didn't post this for fear of being deluged with advice which I really don't need.

I'm not really sure if that sentence is postiive or negative. Anyway, I'm not here to offer any advice, unless you specifically ask for some.
It would seem that there are other expats with hobby farms and whatnot, and I'm interested in what you and those others are doing, growing, etc. So, anything of interest that you or they post will be noted.
I have a couple of hectares that is lying dormant at the moment, but I'd like to try and get something happening out there in the near future. I had a fence built out there some years back, but it's all gone now. The locals stole all the nails and left the wood to rot on the ground.
It's sort of a half-baked retirement plan to have an income producing hobby farm, or at least grow/raise enough for self-sufficiency. Build a small wooden house overlooking the small river that runs through the property. Nothing but random thoughts at the moment though.

Duncan's homemade windmill is food for thought too, if it could pump from the river not from underground.

Although I probably built about 6 or 8 of these windmills, I would not recommend them. They do have high torque at low revs but when they go over 600 RPM they need to be highly balanced or they will just fly apart. Building a effective feathering or a braking system onto them is too complicated .

have you tried a reverse pressure relief valve?
basically feeding the water back into pump impeller , much the same as exhaust brakes on trucks

Cambodian Thanks, Caution, as China Opens Mekong Dam

PHNOM PENH —

Farmers and development organizations say they welcome the release of water from a hydropower dam on the Mekong River in China, but warn against negative effects if too much is discharged.

In January and February, China released 2.3 billion cubic meters of water from Jinghong power station in Yunnan province as part of efforts to ease drought and help irrigation in Lower Mekong countries.

The Mekong River Commission, a consortium of governments from countries along the river, praised the discharge following a two-day meeting in Vietnam, calling it "goodwill" from China.

"I would encourage that the member countries use this extra volume of water in an appropriate and effective manner," Le Duc Trung, chairman of the Mekong River Commission’s Joint Committee, said.

The increased flow will not only help farmers, but Cambodian fishermen as well. Phork Nimul, a fisherman in O’Svay commune, Stung Treng province, said the water would help his crops and enable fishing boats to better . . .

Continue reading: http://m.voanews.com/a/china-cambodia-m ... 44377.html